Adam Schefter
As the new NFL year officially begins Thursday, all eyes will once again be on ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
One of the best reporters in any sport, Schefter will be busier than usual this week breaking news on the flurry of NFL free agent signings and trades. For years he has tweeted breaking NFL news to his Twitter feed, which has 5.84 million followers, followed by hourly hits on ESPN’s top programs, such as “SportsCenter,” “ESPN Live” and “ESPN Insiders.”
Schefter, who signed a contract extension with ESPN this past December, has continued to expand his role with the network. He was a sideline reporter during ESPN’s Feb. 15 broadcast of the Thunder and New York Knicks. He also launched a new podcast two months ago, “Know Them From Adam.”
I always loved sports growing up. I just never imagined you could make a living doing this. I didn’t know these were real jobs that people do.
I didn’t set out to be a football writer. When I went to college at the University of Michigan, I didn’t get into a fraternity my freshman year, so I went to the football office to see if they needed somebody to pick up jock straps and hand out water bottles.
They didn’t need anybody. So I went to the basketball office to see if they needed somebody to pick up jock straps and hand out water bottles. They didn’t need anybody.
I’ve always been the kind of
guy that liked to be busy, so I thought if the fraternity, football team and basketball team didn’t want me, what could I do? That’s how I made it to the student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. Had I gotten into the fraternity or been the student manager for the football or basketball team, I would have never started out in media.
I did get to know Michigan coach Bo Schembechler. I remember telling Bo when I was graduating, “Thank you for letting me sit in on (your press conferences). It was an unbelievable insight and education.” And Bo looked at me, (playfully) slapped me on the face three times and said, “You like to bulls---, don’t you son.” That was Bo Schembechler.
When you were in college, you began to experience what it was like to write for a newspaper and cover a beat. It was intimidating at that time. I never imagined you could make a living in it, but Michigan was such a great training ground for me. I loved it, and it is a great school. I covered the Denver Broncos for more than 15 years. At that point in time it was, and it still might be, the longest continuous stretch that one person has covered that team on a daily basis. I was proud of that. It was an honor. I don’t think it was glamorous writing for a newspaper. It’s a blue-collar job, and I loved it, writing two-to-three stories a day for the newspaper. It was hardcore reporting, real work every single day. The NFL Network called in 2004 while I was on my 16th year at the Denver Post. Now, looking back on it, that seems like a nobrainer, absolutely you go do that. But at the time, newspapers still had more cache than they do now.
To go into TV was just a different deal. It had a different rhythm, pace, mindset, and different everything. The writing work was so intense all the time. There was so much to it. Covering a beat was just chock-full of stuff. It was always busy, stuff to do. It was always hectic.
During my average day, it just never stops. It never slows down. There’s always something going on. People care too much about the NFL news and information, and because of that it’s a situation where you are always on call. The bottom line in my job is to be as fair as I can be with the people I interact with. That’s what I try to do, I try to be fair and let that fall where it will. As long as you are being true to yourself, honest, ethical, moral and acting with integrity, then that’s all you can do. I never like to upset anybody, but sometimes it happens.